Krystil
by Hmmmmmmmmmmm1423
Summary: Clara will never want to look at me. She will see my burnt skin, this horrid mask welded onto my face, and she will push me away. I will kill that laughing freak for taking my daughter from me.
1. Birth of Circumstance

"Samus Reilly, to Crew Chief Adams office. Samus Reilly, to Crew Chief Adams office."

Samus walked towards the office. He was met with a look of pity from Adams' receptionist. Samus opened the office door and entered. He sat down in the chair across from Eugene Adams, the crew chief of Sector 9. He was responsible for the most important sector of Gotham Oil Refinery. Sector 9 was experimenting with crystalized fuel sources. Samus was the head chemist and was supposed to have found the correct formula by now.

"Two months late, Sam. This was your last chance to finish the job. I'm going to have to let you go. Please get your stuff from your locker and be out in a hour."

Samus walked out of the office without any resistance. He knew that he would get another job soon, probably at Ace Chemicals. His ex-wife would be less docile about it. She would probably take a chunk out of his visiting time with his daughter, Clara.

A terrifying laugh ripped through the yard of the refinery. Everyone in Gotham knew that laugh. Laughing meant death in this city. Samus ran towards the exit but flames reared in the doorway. Samus lunged for one of the gasmasks on the wall. The fumes would be toxic without one. The sounds of distant explosions echoed. Samus got down on his knees.

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be do-"

Fire ripped into his body, throwing him into one of the vats of crystalized gas. Samus felt like his cells were being torn apart. He felt his body being pulled and pushed, crushed and vacuumed, frozen and melted.


	2. The Bat Who Wonders

"It has been 14 months since the Joker's fatal attack that killed 29 workers at Gotham Oil. The memorial for the victims is nearing completion in Ricter Park."

Tim Drake turned off the television. He walked towards the entrance to the Batcave. Bruce was on the Bat Computer examining pictures of crystal formations.

"Hey, what are you looking at?"

"Crystals have been forming around Gotham. The chemical structure of the crystals is not known to any database. But that's not what worries me. They contain high amounts of Carbon and Ethenol. They are extremely volatile and explode in a fragmented pattern. This could be some new explosive."

"If anyone knows about new explosives, it'll be Penguin. Let's suit up."

Batman and Robin zipped through the streets of Gotham towards the Iceberg Lounge. After dispatching all of the goons, Batman loomed over Oswald Cobblepot.

"Look, mate. I don't know nothing about no crystal explosive. B-b-but one of my boys had a run in with a guy who had those crystal things. Messed him up real bad."

"Where?!?"

"H-he lives on 13th and Michaels."

 **Twenty minutes later**

"Aight, aight, chill. Okay, so I see this guy in one of my alleys. I go to take his money and he stares at me. It's dark as shit and he cocks his head sideways like a dog. I'm already feeling freaked out so I shine my flashlight in his face. Dude's got pitch black skin and a greenish gas mask. But the weirdest thing is, he's got these black spikes poking out of his sweater. He points to the wall and those spike things come out of the wall and spell out J-O-K-E-R-?. First off, I'm loyal to Penguin. Second off, I try to stay as far away from that clown freak as possible. When I shake my head no, those spikes start coming out of my leg. Had to have it amputated, man!"

 **Back at the Batcave**

"So we know that the crystal isn't exactly an explosive, but we don't know who this gasmask character is. But we do know he is looking for the Joker."

"Do you think it has anything to do with the attack on the refinery? He hasn't shown up before and the Joker was the proprietor of a lot of deaths. Could be a relative looking for revenge."

"Good thinking, Tim. Bat Computer, list the names of all fatalities in the recent attack on Gotham Oil Refinery."

 _"…and Samus Reilly, even though his body was never recovered."_

"Hmm, odd. Bat Computer, bring up Samus Reilly."

 _"Samus Vanik Reilly. Age: 34. Next-of-kin: Clara Allison Reilly. Formerly married. Place of employment: former chemist for Gotham Oil Refinery. Although he was present during the bombing, Mr. Reilly's body was never found. Before the bombing, Mr. Reilly was working on a crystalline fuel sources for jet aircraft."_

"God. Do you think he could have survived the explosion?"


	3. First Encounter of the Explosive Kind

"Please, God. Don't hurt me. Oh, God. Take what ever, I don't care. What? J-j-joker? I don't know where he is. I swear. Argh! MY LEG! HOLY SHIT!"

Samus exited Lucky's Pawn with no new information. He had been doing this for the past few weeks. Find a crook, ask where Joker was, crystalize a limb or two, repeat. It had gotten him nowhere. Samus needed a better source.

 _Think. Who would know where Joker is? Batman? Probably, but with the damage I've done, he would throw me in Arkham. If I could find a place that Joker would go, I could ambush him. Or…I could make a place that he would want to go. Yeah, that could work._ Samus looked around for the nearest tall building. A building labeled "Davis Museum" was the closest fit. Samus put his hand against the wall and formed spikes from his hand. He climbed to the top using this technique and formed various profanities about the "Clown Prince" on the wall of the museum. Samus was almost done when he was interrupted by a whirring noise behind him. He looked back to see a small figure in a red and black costume holding a stick.

"So, you must be the new guy causing the crystal chaos. We'll have to put a stop to that, won't we?"

Samus replied with his rasping breathing. He wanted no part of whatever this boy was doing. Samus looked around for an escape but found only one option. He flipped the boy the bird and promptly fell off the roof.

Robin watched in shock as Samus dropped off the roof. He ran to edge to see what should have been a dead person on the ground, but instead a crater of crystal with Samus running away.

"Batman, this is Robin. Samus is headed west down Eckman Street. He is tougher than we first thought. I just watched him fall at least 50 feet and he seems fine."

"I've got Bat-Girl patrolling west. Samus shouldn't get very far. As far as we can tell, he can't do anything more than make crystals."

The batarang hit Samus squarely in the chest. He grunted in pain and looked for the source of the projectile. On the roof to his left was a shadow with a familiar bat shape. Samus knew that Batman would cause trouble in his plan. He took off in a sprint away from the shadow when it suddenly landed in front of him.

It wasn't Batman, but a more feminine figure in a similar get-up. With the Batman threat out of the way, Samus pitched a shard at this new non-Batman. The girl dodged the crystal and kicked Samus in the gut. In response, he threw a punch at her. Crystals formed on his knuckles before the impact. The jagged punch barely missed the girl by inches. Samus heard a faint voice from the girl's cowl.

"Bat-Girl, don't let him touch you. His crystals could seriously hurt you."

Samus was tired of this. His anger boiled inside of him. Crystals cracked from the ground, the walls, cars, and every other surface in a hundred foot radius. The crystals jutting out from Samus' body changed from there normal translucent black to an odd red color. In tandem, all of the other crysyals changed color from black to red. Bat-Girl grappled away to another building just before all of the crystals exploded violently, throwing fragmented crystal everywhere.


	4. Tick Tock, is that a Croc?

The heart heart monitor on the wall was driving Tim crazy. He'd been sitting beside Barbara's bed ever since the explosion. Bruce had told him to stay with her in case anything happens, but Tim knew it was to protect him from doing something stupid.

The x-ray images on the wall told a sad story. A fragment of crystal had lodged itself deep into Barbara's lower spine. The fragment was too dangerous to remove and Barbara would most likely be paralyzed from the waste down. Commissioner Gordon said that if Rielly hadn't died in that explosion, he would have been shot on sight by all of GCPD.

Waylon Jones trudged through the murky waters of the sewer system with a hefty payload. He had just been payed a couple thousand for hauling crates for Penguin. Waylon did heavy lifting for bigger names often. Lifting crates was easier than robbing banks any day.

Croc was turning the corner to the entrance to his den when he smelled a unfamiliar scent. He followed it to a large cluster of shiny crytals half buried in the concrete tunnel.

"You're new. Somebody would probably pay a good bit for a big hunk of diamond or whatever you are. Waste not, want not."

Waylon tied a piece of rope around the cluster and dragged it back to his den, placing it next to his other goods. He could probably sell it to Riddler for one of his science projects. Waylon plopped down onto his couch to watch the news. The news rambled on about stocks, Bruce Wayne's latest donation, yada yada. A large crater caught Waylon's eye. He unmuted the TV.

"In more pressing news, the explosion that rocked lower Gotham two days earlier is now thought to be from a meta-human attack. This man, Samus Rielly, is said to have created and died in the blast, but fragments of crystal killed 4 people and injured 16 more."

The camera showed a picture of crystal fragment. Waylon looked at the TV and the crystal cluster. _I'll be damned. Somebody's gotta want some of this bad if it can do_ that. _I'll ask around tomorrow._ Waylon got up and climbed into to a large hammock hanging from the ceiling. He slowly drifted off to sleep.

 ** _CRACK_**

Waylon flew out of the hammock, snarling. Seeing no threat, he calmed down. Waylon felt a cold liquid on his feet. A dark slime was leaking out of the cluster. Croc walked over to find a jagged crack in the cluster. He dug his claws into the crystal and pulled the crack apart. A pale naked man fell out of a chamber in the cluster along with more of the slime.

The man had nothing but a black gas mask on. The same crystals jutted out in some places, mainly around the joints. The crystals formed sharp points on his knees and elbows. His hands hahad almost no skin on them, but jagged crystal in the shape of a hand creating sharp claws. All of a sudden, the man jumped up. Waylon stared in confusion, and the man stared back. The man waved. Waylon responded by forcefully punching the man into the wall.

 **A/N- Why, hello there. If you are reading this, you've stumbled upon my little hobby. So, to recap, this story is not in the regular universe of Batman. This is an amalgamation of my favorite Batman creations. This story is different because of a lot of reasons. Batman's in his early fourties, Robin/Tim Drake is in his early teens, Dick Grayson is still Nightwing, yada yada. Anyways, if you have any criticisms, put 'em in the review thing. If you like the story, put a this thing - - in the review. Until next time, my dude and/or dudette.**


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